The present invention generally relates to a vehicle body structure and, more particularly, to resinous moldings or projecting members used to decorate and/or protect the surface of a vehicle body structure such as, for example, a door, a fender or a bumper.
Most automobiles available nowadays are equipped with one or more synthetic resin molding on their side doors, rear and front fenders and/or rear and front bumpers for dual purpose of giving a pleasant and attractive appearance and protecting the painted surfaces thereof. They are available as an optional item of automobile accessaries and are usually fitted to local areas of an automobile body structure.
An example of the prior art automobile moldings is shown in FIG. 8 of the accompanying drawings in a partial perspective view. As shown in FIG. 8, the prior art molding which appears to be pertinent to the present invention comprises an elongated body A molded or shaped to have a generally U-shaped cross-section with its side edges A1 protruding transversely of the body A, and a grid structure having vertical and horizontal ribs C interlaced one another and protruding from the bottom B defined by the body A and the side edges A1. This prior art molding is of one-piece construction and is adapted to be fitted to a local area of the automobile body structure, for example, an outer panel of a side door, by the use of a bonding material.
While the prior art molding is satisfactory and effective in giving a pleasant and attractive appearance and also protecting the painted surface, it tends to fall off from the local area to which it has been fitted, because according to the prior art no means has been provided for permitting the molding to compensate for the difference in shrinkage between the molding and the material for the automobile body structure. More specifically, the respective materials for the molding and the automobile body structure are of heteregeneous quality and undergo thermal expansion and contraction under the influence of change in ambient temperature, it being, however, a truth that the extent to which one of them undergoes the thermal expansion and contraction greatly differs from that of the other material. This is due to the difference in coefficient of thermal expansion between the respective materials for the molding and the automobile body structure, and repeated thermal expansion and contraction of one of the molding and the automobile body structure relative to the other renders the bonding material to gradually loss its bonding ability.